It’s not a milestone to be proud of. Just days ago, we learned that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has now issued over USD $1m in fines against ‘unruly’ air passengers in the U.S. in 2021.
The agency notes that some incidents of so-called 'air rage' were particularly extreme. It has levied fines on passengers in American airspace this year for assaults on flight attendants and other passengers, throwing items, threatening others, smoking and doing drugs, and a pandemic favourite: refusing to follow the mask mandate.
A survey from the Association of Flight Attendants in JUL found that 85 per cent of American flight attendants had experienced at least one incident of ‘air rage’ this year, while 20 per cent said they’ve encountered physical violence on board aircraft.
So, just what does it take to get air pax to act like decent human beings on planes?
Well, in addition to applying the ‘stick’ solution in the form of fines, it’s also trying a ‘carrot’ in the form of a PSA.
The 33-second Public Service Announcement video has a simple message to airline hooligans: "Unruly behavior doesn't fly."
It depicts pilots speaking over airwaves to relay messages like "We've got a disruptive customer in the back," "We'd like to divert" and "We need to get off the airplane."
Black and white still images of the cockpit are overlaid with alarming, flame-orange coloured graphics and accompanied by audio of shouting and disruption along with ominous music.
It finishes with pointed advice to passengers who are entrusting their safety to the air crew at 40,000 feet: “You Don’t Want Your Pilots Distracted.”
The FAA posted the video on Twitter, along with statistics about unruly passengers this year.
New Unruly Passenger Numbers since 1/1/2021:
- 3,988 unruly reports
- 2,928 refusing to wear a mask reports
- 693 investigation initiated
- 132 cases with penalties
Learn more at https://t.co/UpB2VL14s9.#FlySmart pic.twitter.com/yEMvPoaR1j— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) August 24, 2021
The tweet also links to a page on the FAA web site about air rage, along with a “Zero Tolerance for Unruly and Dangerous Behavior Toolkit.”
